In your anger do not sin

 In your anger do not sin

 

 

There are always, regardless of the virtue we purport to possess, things and events in our lives which make us angry.   Well, they come up sometimes, quite unexpectedly.   I once read a story from a Bible tract or such about a woman whose husband did something that made her so hopping mad that she did this very mean and irrational thing to him!   I do not recall, save myself, what it was!     The point of the related biblical passage I suppose is that you have to find some way to redeem yourself, regardless of the point of day of the occurrence because it is very bad albeit  it doesn't seem so to leave it "hanging", as they say.    So if your brother or sister offends you or perchance you offend yourself,  please make the proper amends for the good of your soul, which really is all that matters.

 

p.s.  I do not always do these things myself!

 

God Bless,

 

d

David Simmons

 David Simmons

When I first started in formal music, I had a Christian friend named David Simmons.  Now, I was in a Southern Baptist congregation.  First thing is, David was a southern guy who did not judge me "easterness". Actually, he found most of my New Yorkish reference and anecdotes and miens quite amusing and refreshing.  This made me feel quite at home in an atmosphere of which I was not accustomed.  I am humbled and ashamed to say that I did not reciprocate this respect at the time.  I had all sorts of things to say about "backwards" southern people and their ways and their faith!   David certainly showed me something.  What a true guy!  I miss him.  I miss them all.

d

Pastor Marty

 Pastor Marty

Marty is a pastor at Victory Church in Rotterdam, NY.   He said an interesting thing tonight on his message podcast.   You have to be in it in the love sense.  And this comes by obedience and reading the Word, known as the Bible to us laymen. Now, I certainly make mistakes, ask anyone who knows me.  But the Bible will explain that to you.   Paul, a converted apostle,  said that we all seek to do good.  But it is bad namely in us that makes us do bad.   The good we want to do, we  cannot, because of this evil which lurks within us.   But be of good cheer, He, namely Jesus, has overcome the world.   Now I have a couple of friends who need this Jesus, like we all do! Anonymously, please pray for them.    say this:

Lord, I am a sinner.

I am sorry for my sin.

I here and now repent of my sins.

I come to you now,  knowing that I can't do it on my own.

I need you in my heart.

Please come in me and dwell.

that's all you do

God Bless,

d

The First Thing

 The First Thing

The first thing is, as comes to my mind, is that to be a Christian, namely a follower of Christ, you have to stop and form obedience.  Now you are saying, " easier said than done."  Well, Christ wants to bless you so bad!  So, in order to receive this blessing, regardless of what it is, you have to play by His rules!   Sin has many forms.   Some seem quite obvious, but this actually is not true. You may be generally a good person in some ways, but perhaps you bad- mouth a former lover or have a gripe for some political figure.  Christ commands us, and I know this sounds harsh, but commands us to love people, all people, from the heart.   Now pride gets in the way, because our dreams and goals make us often proud and boisterous an so forth. This leads to error almost in all cases.  A mature Christian must learn to trust Christ even when bad things happen.    This is not playing hopscotch, for sure.   So hang in there, and walk in His blessings.

 

God Bless You,

d

Cell Phone Killers

 It is not everyday that we as songwriters become social commentators.  But this day was my day!  I do not know where exactly I picked up this strange chord sequence, but a African American fellow came by my street performance in Cohoes one day and challenged me to come up with something soulfull in conjunction with what was emanating from his boombox, so I came up with this.  The song which I adapted to it was an idea about something in society pertaining to behavioral phenomena which I observed.   It that I surmised that an underground had formed of cell phone users who were attempting to manifest a cause of which I was not certain. I wrote this song about it entitled "Cell Phone Killers."  I hope you like it.    d

7-10-8-7     4 string bar

went to church one day

talked to a girl showed me the way

told me to be

a cell phone killer

Holy Spirit had its day

big sharp objects and some frays

today is gonna be the day

cell phone killers

God became a WU telegraph

searchin' for these epitaphs

fakin' all the charts and graphs

cell phone killers

reason was a friend of mine

now I sin and do my time

groupies and a pantomime

cell phone killers

ref:    17-9-7    four string bar

hadn't any church after that

got a great big brain attack

Turner and the great big facts

cell phone killers

Send Them In

I wrote a song about the taking of the city of Ai by Joshua and his army.  Seems that they came up with a plan that they would ambush  the town by drawing them away from it  with a fake pursuit.  Then they proceeded to occupy the abandoned place.  Uncharactaristically in Biblical times, they divided the plunder.  I hope you like this song  inspired by this story.

Send Them In

  C               F
too many battles
  Bb                                F
won by stregnth and might
  C                   F
Gideon had a little
 Bb              F
send them in


take them by pure mettle
we won't bargain for a settle
only twelve apostles
send them in


big tasks and big people
people without a steeple
David had a fiddle
send them in


take them by surprise
watch their fleeting eyes
take the town of Ai
send them in


speak with a soft tongue
lend a helping hand
give 'til you have none
send them in 

The chord progression is I-IV-bVII.  The key is C major.

d

So Many Times

Back in the day when I was writing in this blog frequently...lol...Here is my latest project, a song titled "So Many Times".  It is a song about how we let our preoccupations clutter our relationship with God.  Sin, business, zeal...you name it we all do it.  I hope you get something out of it.  I haven't yet put it to music, but I think it deserves a R&B theme with a hard rock line...d


So Many Times


so many times                                         Refrain:
we think that God                                    God has His time and place
won't do it                                                to show you which way to go
faith ebbs like the waves                          put your trust in His care
so many times

so many times
"what am I going to do
to get out of it?"
looking for a quick fix

so many times
we try to fill out
our papers
do it now not later
so many times

so many times
"just let me get this done!"
life on the run
so many times

so many times
relaxing in a misdemeanor
God will break your fever
listen to His will